A car bomb has killed 18 people near Baghdad's oil ministry and a nearby police academy, as US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld arrived for an unexpected visit to the country. On Sunday, the bodies of a woman and three men were seen being lifted from the scene of the attack, suspected to be the work of anti-US forces. "The bomb apparently exploded prematurely at an intersection in front of the academy. Most of the dead were passer-by, including seven women," said ministry spokesman Asim Jihad. At least two cars were destroyed in the attack, which gouged a large crater in Palestine Street, one of Baghdad's main roads. Body parts and personal belongings, such as a woman's purse, lay scattered on the ground. The windshields of several vehicles were smashed after the attack, which occurred at around 7am (0400 GMT). The blast was earlier thought to have been caused by a rocket. The oil ministry, a heavily-fortified building on the north-east side of the capital, is the target of frequent mortar and missile attacks. There were recruits lining up near the police academy at the time and they might have been the intended target, Jihad said. **Carnage*** Abdullah Qamir, an Iraqi journalist, speaking to Aljazeera said: "The explosion was very terrifying. It took place in a crossing leading to four ministries, including the oil, electricity, and environment buildings. "US forces and Iraqi police have closed all roads leading to the site," Qamir said. "Bodies and parts of dead bodies are scattered in the site and there is blood everywhere," he added. In a separate attack on Sunday near the culture ministry in eastern Baghdad, seven people were killed and five others injured. Another car bomb targeting a US military convoy detonated on the main road in the Dujail area north of Baghdad. A US army vehicle was destroyed and soldiers inside the vehicle were injured, Iraqi police sources told Aljazeera. **Rumsfeld visit*** A captain from the US First Cavalry Division confirmed that a convoy was targeted in one of the blasts, but was not immediately sure which one. One American soldier was wounded and evacuated to a medical facility, he said. In a separate attack a US convoy of military vehicles, trucks and civilian cars came under a rocket propelled grenade attack in the western Iraqi city of Heet, Aljazeera learnt. One of the US civilian cars was overturned. The latest attacks coincided with an unannounced visit to Iraq on Sunday by Rumsfeld, who flew from Bahrain to a marine air base in the western desert near Haditha, about 200km northwest of the Iraqi capital. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A medic pulls a victim to stretcher after a missile attack near the oil ministry in Baghdad. (AFP)